


Older Brother

by magimage



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Canon Compliant, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Light Angst, Minor Genji Shimada/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, but its strained as hell, i think it is anyway, very VERY V E R Y minor i can not stress that enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:29:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25888870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magimage/pseuds/magimage
Summary: Genji visits Hanzo to ask him an important question.
Relationships: Genji Shimada & Hanzo Shimada
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	Older Brother

**Author's Note:**

> hi. it's me. writing family drama. and uploading it at 3am.

Hanzo is tense, even in his own living space. The strain shows through his careful, gathered movements as he prepares tea for the both of them. Genji wonders if perhaps he hadn’t warmed up to this space yet - it was sparse and undecorated, unlike his brother’s prior expensive tastes - but there was a high chance it was Genji himself that lent to such stress. 

He breaks the silence. “Are you nearly done?” 

“Patience, brother.” He keeps his back to him, reaching out for things on the countertop. “Nothing good comes from rushing.” 

He will admit, he can not help the slight grin at Hanzo’s scolding. It sounds just the same as before. It is no surprise that he has not changed in that regard. 

Letting his eyes rove across the room, he picks up on the blankness of the walls. No photographs with any friends hang there.. Perhaps he should buy Hanzo something for it. Artwork, maybe? Does he still have the same tastes?

Finally, Hanzo slides in the seat across from him, setting down his cup before him. Genji takes a sip; it’s just as he likes it. 

They sit in the quiet. Genji looks intently at him. Hanzo looks just to the right of his face and Genji decides not to call him out on it. Instead he says the first words. 

“Thank you for inviting me here.”

Hanzo grunts. “You wanted to ask me something in confidence, yes? There is no need to go whisper at a restaurant if you wish for privacy.”

He chuckles. “You are as welcoming as ever, brother.”

“I am simply being practical.”

“Then I take it you would prefer for me to jump right ahead to the offer?” He sets down his cup with purpose. He has spoken to Zenyatta and Angela about this and received both their blessings. Now he only has to be brave enough to say it. “In the time that we have been… separated-” He ignores the way Hanzo stiffens, “-I have met people that are very... important to me. And as my brother, nothing would please me more than for you to meet them too.”

No answer. Hanzo only continues to sip.

He falters slightly but continues. “Of course I can not force you. But I really want you to.”

No answer.

Only him drinking from the cup, acting as if he hadn’t heard him. Maybe he was just mulling it over? He waits, trying to keep patient until finally, Hanzo puts down his own cup.

“Why would you ask this of me?” He says. Genji detects no malice, just genuine confusion. 

“You are my brother. You are important to me too. I would like you to know the others who are near to my heart.”

He scoffs. “You can not have been so foolish as to have truly forgiven me. You have said you are a changed man but this seems to be the same weakness that the old Genji had.”

He refuses to be cowed by his words. “I have forgiven you through new wisdom and strength. Forgiveness is no weakness.”

“That’s what the foolish man says. This is not what our father taught us.”

It is difficult, letting these insults bounce off him. It brings him back to other times, back when the fate of the clan rested heavily on his unwilling shoulders and how quick they were to snap at each other once it became clear just how much Genji rejected that role. It hurt then and it hurt now. 

He didn’t come here to be spoken down to. He didn’t come here to return to the same arguments as before.

He didn’t have to listen to this. 

“Why do you hate me so much, Hanzo?”

Finally, he looks taken aback, wind out of his sails. He gapes at Genji wordlessly from across the table. 

Genji continues. “I have wondered ever since I was a child. What about me repulses you so much?”

“I do not hate-”

“You can’t even look at me.” His voice is sharp and brittle. “You are avoiding me in your own house. Is being a part of my life so disgusting to you?”

“No!” He clears his throat after the shout. “No… You misunderstand me.”

“I can not understand when you refuse to talk to me.” He wouldn’t cry. He  _ wouldn’t _ .

He can see Hanzo’s hesitation in the wrinkle in his brow. “It is not so simple.”

“But couldn’t it be?” He sighs. Slouches against his chair. “Why does… Why does everything have to be so  _ complicated  _ when it comes to us? Why can it not just  _ be _ ?”

His chuckle is without humour. “I ruined that long ago.”

“Is that your way of telling me that it is not my fault?”

He does not answer. Genji decides that it’s his way of saying yes. 

He broaches the silence again with a hushed tone. “I did not enact revenge before. I do not intend to do so now. This stunted communication brings neither of us joy. I just want you around me.”

The fire in Hanzo’s voice is a contrast so stark to his own that he flinches slightly. “But you should not! To want your murderer around you-”

“You didn’t kill me.”

“Because attempted murder is so much  _ better _ .” He spits out the words with disgust.

Genji wishes that he could reach across the table and hug him but he knows that the feeling of metal against Hanzo’s skin would not be as comforting as he wants. Instead, he presses on. 

“But you intend me no harm now. That is as important as the past. That is what I am letting determine my future. I  _ want  _ you in my future besides me as the brother I love.”

“I am protecting you as the older brother that you want-”

“This is not what I want. This is what  _ you  _ want.” 

The words sit between them. Whether it has widened or lessened the gap, Genji has no idea. All he knows is Hanzo looks completely blank. 

“... I wish you no ill will. Just believe me Hanzo when I say I want you in my life. I came back for nothing less. You do not need to push me away.”

Still, not a word of confirmation or rejection from him. 

Genji sighs. Perhaps he has pushed too early, too hard. It was a lot to expect for a man who could not stand the sight of him. 

“I will let you think about it.” He stands to leave. “The offer will always stand, aniki. And you know where to find me.”

Hanzo doesn’t stop him as he walks to the door and out of his house. 

He breathes in the chill of the air slowly. He’s done his bit. He’s reached out, expressed things as clearly as he could with calmness that he would make Zenyatta proud. He had stopped it from devolving into the same shouting as before. 

He looks down at his shaking hands. Can’t possibly be the chill. These tremors were completely psychological. 

It was okay. Things went okay. Why was he so cut up about it? God, he needed a drink- no, he needed someone to talk to. And he had those people around him now. It would be fine. Hugging himself for reassurance, he walks on. 

There was nothing more to do but to wait for Hanzo’s decision. And he would wait for as long as he had to. 

**Author's Note:**

> yeah, family relationships are hard. genji's trying. hanzo is doing his own version of trying.
> 
> thanks for reading! comments and criticism is appreciated!!


End file.
